1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? Yellow Face takes place during the 1990's till the present. New York, Washington D.C., China, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are home to this play. The main character, David Henry Hwang, is an advocate for Asian Americans and is publicly known as one. He is a successful playwriter whose last play, M.Butterfly, was described as a beautiful tragedy. In the play, they talk about his newest work, Face Value. Face Value addresses the theory and importance of mask vs. face. David's father, Henry, who is a successful banker that is all about the American dream. An important character, Marcus Gee, creates controversy throughout the play and is an example of what it means to be who believe you want to be and the ability to have a face. The stasis is the casting of Johnathan Pryce as an Asian role. Outraged because of the misrepresentation, David writes a show called Face Value and frantically tries to cast an Asain role. He believes Marcus Gee is the perfect candidate although he is apparently not fully Asian.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Execution of Justice and how is it broken? The intrusion of the play is when David Henry Hwang creates a fake Asian identity for Marcus Gee after he finds out he is not Asian at all. This lieing causes David to be set in a problematic situation and causes more dramatic actions to take place in order to keep Marcus Gee's mask from being revealed to the public. Marcus takes on his mask and fully involves himself into the Asian community and essentially turns his mask into his face. Marcus felt as if he found a home in the Asian community and would rather advocate for them and go against his own culture to protect the Asian culture.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this? This play is uniquely created in the middle of controversies being explored and explained. David writes a story about Face Value because of the actions of playwriters misrepresenting the Asian community with white actors. Ironically, he does the same unintentionally. This controversy, the bank incident, and the investigation of anyone Asian just because they're Asian all plays into the one he is creating that we are simultaneously reading. Yellow Face is a product of the misinterpretations and scandals Asians have to deal with and creatively ties everything into itself.
4. State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.) Will society ever find out Marcus Gee's true identity? Is it possible to turn your mask into a face?
5. Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers. David has a conflict between himself because of his hypocritical decisions. He is torn between a qualified actor and an Asian actor, he is against misrepresentation but continues to fool society and convinces them that a male with a completely white background is actually a Siberian Jewish Asian. He also conflicts with himself and his fictional character because he would rather not explain to his audience that Marcus Gee is actually a fictional character. During the play, he repeatedly fights with Marcus because he believes it is wrong for him to carry a mask for so long. David also constantly conflicts with society by advocating for the rights of all Asians in the community, being treated fairly and equally among all his peers, and changing the way Asians are portrayed in the media. Henry had a conflict with society as well, he had a purpose to become apart of the American dream. He believed in America and thought highly of the idea, however, became at a disillusion and lost his feeling of purpose.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Yellow Face. Several theatrical moments include when David found out Marcus was indeed not Asian, when Marcus and David told society he was not Asian, when Leah found out Marcus was lying to her all this time, when Henry died because he lacked purpose and when David let go of his fictional character and went on a journey to find his own face.
Yellow Face takes place during the 1990's till the present. New York, Washington D.C., China, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are home to this play. The main character, David Henry Hwang, is an advocate for Asian Americans and is publicly known as one. He is a successful playwriter whose last play, M.Butterfly, was described as a beautiful tragedy. In the play, they talk about his newest work, Face Value. Face Value addresses the theory and importance of mask vs. face. David's father, Henry, who is a successful banker that is all about the American dream. An important character, Marcus Gee, creates controversy throughout the play and is an example of what it means to be who believe you want to be and the ability to have a face. The stasis is the casting of Johnathan Pryce as an Asian role. Outraged because of the misrepresentation, David writes a show called Face Value and frantically tries to cast an Asain role. He believes Marcus Gee is the perfect candidate although he is apparently not fully Asian.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Execution of Justice and how is it broken?
The intrusion of the play is when David Henry Hwang creates a fake Asian identity for Marcus Gee after he finds out he is not Asian at all. This lieing causes David to be set in a problematic situation and causes more dramatic actions to take place in order to keep Marcus Gee's mask from being revealed to the public. Marcus takes on his mask and fully involves himself into the Asian community and essentially turns his mask into his face. Marcus felt as if he found a home in the Asian community and would rather advocate for them and go against his own culture to protect the Asian culture.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this?
This play is uniquely created in the middle of controversies being explored and explained. David writes a story about Face Value because of the actions of playwriters misrepresenting the Asian community with white actors. Ironically, he does the same unintentionally. This controversy, the bank incident, and the investigation of anyone Asian just because they're Asian all plays into the one he is creating that we are simultaneously reading. Yellow Face is a product of the misinterpretations and scandals Asians have to deal with and creatively ties everything into itself.
4. State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will society ever find out Marcus Gee's true identity?
Is it possible to turn your mask into a face?
5. Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers.
David has a conflict between himself because of his hypocritical decisions. He is torn between a qualified actor and an Asian actor, he is against misrepresentation but continues to fool society and convinces them that a male with a completely white background is actually a Siberian Jewish Asian. He also conflicts with himself and his fictional character because he would rather not explain to his audience that Marcus Gee is actually a fictional character. During the play, he repeatedly fights with Marcus because he believes it is wrong for him to carry a mask for so long. David also constantly conflicts with society by advocating for the rights of all Asians in the community, being treated fairly and equally among all his peers, and changing the way Asians are portrayed in the media. Henry had a conflict with society as well, he had a purpose to become apart of the American dream. He believed in America and thought highly of the idea, however, became at a disillusion and lost his feeling of purpose.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Yellow Face.
Several theatrical moments include when David found out Marcus was indeed not Asian, when Marcus and David told society he was not Asian, when Leah found out Marcus was lying to her all this time, when Henry died because he lacked purpose and when David let go of his fictional character and went on a journey to find his own face.